Chaplain Craig Rennebohm

Craig’s book

Public appearances

Click here for information about Craig’s public appearances, talks, and interviews.

The Mental Health Chaplain

The Chaplain walks a regular route through downtown Seattle, seeking out those who are most vulnerable; those whose confusion or fear makes it hard to seek or accept assistance; those whose illness makes them feel isolated, unworthy, and hopeless. The Chaplain is there for the person who is seriously disturbed and uncertain about where or how to find aid. Working tenderly, the Chaplain builds trust, helps find shelter and care, and continues to walk alongside as each person makes their way toward a new and stable life.

At the end of each day, the Chaplain visits the mental health units at Harborview Medical Center, attending to patients who face profound spiritual issues in the course of their illness. The Chaplain works with the medical teams and social work staff to lay the groundwork for a renewed and healthy faith.

Networks of Care

Many of us who have experienced mental illness turn to our congregation for crisis help and support in our journey toward health. The Chaplaincy works to link congregations together in neighborhood networks of care, and trains volunteers to serve as companions and ministry leaders in their local settings.

Wider Works

The Chaplaincy shares a vision of caring communities that have the resources necessary for those among us who face mental illness in our lives. The Chaplaincy assists with referrals, provides consultation, and gives presentations to foster understanding of mental illness and the spiritual journey.

About Craig Rennebohm, D. Min.

Craig graduated from Carleton College in 1966 and Chicago Theological Seminary in 1970. He was ordained in the United Church of Christ and served in the parish ministry for sixteen years, eleven of them in Seattle. In 1986, Craig entered the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, where he concentrated on pastoral care and received the Doctor of Ministry degree. He returned to Seattle in 1987 and founded the Mental Health Chaplaincy.

Under Craig’s leadership, the Chaplaincy has grown to serve individuals and families, create mental health ministries in local congregations, and advocate for an effective and readily accessible community mental health system. Craig has taught and presented in a variety of local, national, and international settings, and served for ten years with an international, interfaith working group on Spirituality and Social Work active during and after hostilities in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina. He currently serves on the national advisory board of NAMI Faithnet and the Board of Directors of the UCC Disabilities Ministries.

He has received numerous recognitions for his Chaplaincy work, including the Tipper Gore Award of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, a Carleton College Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award, and a Seattle Post-Intelligencer Jefferson Award. In 2008, he was honored by the Thomas C. Wales Foundation during its annual celebration of Passionate Citizenship. Most recently, he was honored by NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, with its 2009 Richard T. Greer Advocacy Award.

Craig’s acclaimed book, Souls in the Hands of a Tender God, written with David Paul, was published by Beacon Press in 2008, and a paperback edition followed in 2009. The book tells uplifting stories of Chaplaincy experiences, takes readers into the lives of people with mental illness, explores what we can all do to help those in distress, and challenges us to create caring communities.